


Born at Nightfall, Dying at Noon

by Hopeful_Foolx



Series: Whumptober 2020 [18]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Bad Weather, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fever, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Gets a Hug, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Needs a Hug, Pining, Power Outage, Sick Character, Sick Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Sickfic, Tim deserves an award for being long suffering, Whump, Whumptober 2020, the kitchen has instant ramen fight me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:33:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27232789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hopeful_Foolx/pseuds/Hopeful_Foolx
Summary: The City gets a storm warning, Jon, Tim and Martin get trapped in the Archive. It wouldn't be so bad, if the power didn't go out. And... If Jon wasn't running such a bad fever...
Relationships: Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Tim Stoker, Martin Blackwood & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Martin Blackwood & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Tim Stoker, Martin Blackwood & Tim Stoker
Series: Whumptober 2020 [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1945483
Comments: 14
Kudos: 158
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes I do these things and then I’m like ‘why again’? because Jon does not deserve all the things I put him through.

“It’s getting really disgusting out there - Martin, come on” Tim wrapped a black scarf around his neck, “I can drive you home” He shouldered his bag and expectantly looked at him.    
  
“I’ll stay a little more - just to finish up my translation” Martin made sure to not meet Tim’s gaze, knowing he was already too obviously not focusing on latin, but there wasn’t much hope - even now. Of course he wouldn’t come, not yet, even when the offer was hard to pass up. In his opinion, what happened outside shouldn’t be called just a storm. Even this morning it had pulled on his clothes and the short way between the station and the Institute had him freezing. Even while Jon had been there earlier than him, he had looked cold too - and not well in general. He hadn’t really emerged from his office the whole day, and even the four words he exchanged with Martin (‘Come in’ and ‘Thank you’ when he brought him tea) had been scratchy and rough. Did Tim really expect him to leave him like this? The thing about expectations was… Martin had never been good at meeting them anyway. So even when Tim looked at him like this, he was able to just shrug. 

“You mean to make sure Jon leaves too at one point?” Found out. Tim sighed and let his bag fall back to the chair, “Okay, fair. He’ll get blown away in that wind when he leaves alone” He didn’t expect… that. Jon’s office door was closed as it was most times, but with only Martin’s pen scratching over paper and Tim obviously debating if he should disturb, they could hear him speak, not the words, just a noise

“He’s recording,” Martin quietly added, “so there is not a lot of luck in getting him to leave right now” He shook his pen in an attempt to get it to write again.

“Great” Tim flopped back down on his chair and looked up to the ceiling, “So we’ll stay here a while longer. Ideal” His pen gave him a few shaky blue spots but nothing else. 

“You… you don’t have to?” He shook his pen and finally gave up on it.

“Yeah, I one hundret percent have to, Martin. You won’t leave if Jon doesn’t, and I won’t if you don’t. I’m the only brain cell in this building when Sasha isn't here, so just accept it” Martin chuckled, Tim seeing himself as the only capable member of the Institute? More likely the only one capable of handling Jon without lasting damage. Sasha had called in sick yesterday already, it had been just the three of them here the whole week and would be for the rest. She was responsible at least, taking her time when she was sick - not like Jon. But    
“Also… he didn’t look too hot when I last saw him” Martin felt a twinge in his chest. So that was set then. 

“Nope. I put some honey in his tea, which is a weird combination. I thought he would throw it but…” he just shrugged again and Tim grinned, but it wasn’t as bright as usual, not even close. 

“Stubborn idiot. He always does that, I carried him home once because he told me - feverish and shaking and coughing out his lungs I have you know - that he felt fine. He had bloody  _ pneumonia _ in the end. Fine my  _ ass _ ” Martin spun his chair around to look at him and therefore gave up on his translations definitely. It wasn’t like he had been working on them with all his focus before, though. The weather only got worse, and even with the heating system, it got colder down here. When Tim offered to take him home, he had been debating on how to get Jon to go home himself. 

“It’s not that bad this time, right?” Tim just shrugged and then held up a finger. Martin raised his eyebrows - it was quiet, what was he getting at?    
Oh. It was  _ quiet _ \- which meant that Jon stopped talking. Of course. Tim nodded over to the door and Martin felt himself relax a little. Now they could bring Jon up to speed and get all home safely - or so he thought. Now the bad feeling was supposed to go away, right? He hoped, and in retrospect he should have known, in his own opinion at least, because nothing was ever easy with them, was it?    
Entering Jon’s office after receiving no answer after several knocking-attempts, he knew why the bad feeling stayed.

Jon had his head on the desk, forehead resting on the edge of it, both arms wrapped around himself. He was trembling, the tape recorder off and papers of a statement scattered around the desk. 

“Jon?!” Martin hurried closer and put a hand on his shoulder. His reaction was imminent - he sat up the moment Martin touched him, but that didn’t hide anything. Neither from him, nor Tim.    
“Tim he’s really warm” Jon tried to push his hand away when he placed it on his forehead, but without glasses he not only missed but couldn’t even glare at him. Even if he did, Martin wouldn’t have had it - it was too late for that. He was worried, and not too little. So was Tim, he shook his head and, leaning over the armrest, took Jon in himself. 

“Oh, I should have known” he mumbled as they watched Jon sluggishly blink. 

“No, I just…”    
  
“What? You just fell asleep, when you were recording five minutes ago?” Martin tried not to be a little jealous of how well Tim knew him, not now, “I appreciate the work you’re putting into this, but it’s not as comforting as you think” Jon only made a face. It seemed like he could argue with Martin, but not with Tim in this case.

“Here’s what we do, Martin, find his coat. I’ll bring the car to the front entrance, and then we’ll get out of here” Martin only nodded, and only then realized he still had his hand on Jon’s forehead. He hurriedly pulled back and got to his feet.   
  
It was surprisingly easy to get Jon into his coat and not easy to get him out of his office chair and moving. He stubbornly refused to lean onto Martin until he had to support himself against the doorframe. Martin wrecked his brain trying to figure out if he saw Jon leave his office today at all, to eat something or even just  _ move _ . The way he held himself said a bright  _ no _ in that department, further supported by how shaky he seemed. Martin ignored his protests and put an arm around his shoulders getting no further protest. 

“Okay, change of plans” Tim shouted before he even barged back in through the door, jacket soaked, hair wet and glasses in his hands.    
“No way we’re getting out there, I didn’t even make it to my car” He shrugged off his coat and threw it over the next chair.

“What… Why?” Jon looked at the coat and back to Tim, then to Martin’s arm around him and again at Tim - just to squeeze his eyes closed a moment later, as if that made him dizzy again.

“Hey, how about we sit you down first?” The break room had a sofa - old and worn but the best were, and even if it wouldn’t have been, Martin decided that it was better than the office chairs. 

“We have a storm warning for today, did you seriously miss that? Shops closing earlier, everyone should be home by now and not leave the house?” Jon’s puzzled look was enough to show them that somehow, impossibly, he missed it. Christ, Martin thought, he would have actually gone out there! Probably trying to make it home and then drown somewhere. If he even came that far, shivering like this. It wasn’t warm down here, but also not so cold he should shiver  _ this _ badly.    
“You really didn’t notice?” Martin quietly excused himself to find some herbal tea and more honey when he heard Jon trying to stifle a cough into his sleeve. It sounded bad, how could they have missed it? Was it just today? Sasha had called in sick two days ago - had he already been sick then?

“How long do you have that cold already?” he asked quietly, handing him the mug and holding onto it a little longer than strictly necessary. 

“Martin, I-”   
  
“Answer him!” Tim called from the other room. He had some gym-clothes here for whatever reason, and that was much better than the soaked ones from before. The rain drenched his coat in the span of minutes, he didn’t stand a chance. It looked like they’d be stuck here for the night - hopefully just that. At least they had tea, a few blankets (even if Martin asked himself why they were here), a few towels and about a year’s worth of instant Ramen. Martin was contemplating on how much chicken was in there and if it was enough to make something for Jon with it - just to quickly realize that it didn’t really matter.   
Jon frowned and looked down into his cup.

“Yesterday, but it got-” he took a shaky breath, “got worse today-” He passed the mug on to Martin to sneeze into his other sleeve.

“Bless you” Martin decided not to answer for now. He tried to think of one, but came up empty, and so placed the tea on the table close by and put fresh water into the kettle. That was another thing, at least. They had a kettle and water. And tea was something Martin could do, always. And in all ways. Even when the thought about spending the night here with Tim and Jon made him want to run into the storm, well, he could make tea. It was also something he wouldn’t be able to change, he realized - there wasn’t much choice in the department of staying here, since there was no way they could leave. It just got one hell of a lot harder with Jon being sick. He turned to the side to look him over again. He had his knees up to his chest, arms still wrapped around himself, lips pressed together tightly and despite his coat, he shivered.    
“Hey, it’s okay”    
  
“Of course it is, I’m just…” he took the offered mug and hugged it close to his chest, “just…”   
  
“Just sick and feverish. It’s okay, I mean, I can make you chicken ramen instead of noodle soup?” he proposed with a small smile in hopes of prompting one in return. Jon just scoffed, maybe it was Tim’s behavior rubbing off, but Martin couldn’t let it go. “No, don’t give me that, I know you haven’t left your office the whole day, you need to eat something. And it’s nearly six, so it’s even a good time” 

“Why were you still here?” Jon sipped at his tea and for the first time, his voice sounded a little better for a moment, “If there was a storm warning, I mean” Martin felt his face get warm, then hot. Yes, why had he been here? Because he wanted to make sure that Jon really left. Because he listened to the news and knew that Jon probably missed it. 

“I…” he started and searched for a neutral answer, “You know, I-”    
The next second, the light flickered and went out.    
For a very long moment, it was just dark. A thick, black darkness surrounding them, no daylight in the cellar, and even if - it was already too dark outside. It was pressing down on them from all sides, like they went blind one second to the next or the world went away just like that. 

“Martin?” It was unnecessary - not even a minute ago, Jon had looked at him, so he couldn’t have vanished if he wanted to, and still it made him release a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Fear of the dark. Primary human instinct. Nothing else. 

  
“Yes, here” He whispered back and grabbed a hold of Jon’s hand that felt around his arm for him. It was warm, far too warm, sure, but human contact. 

“Why are you whispering?” he asked, slightly louder, and as if he broke a curse with that, the green emergency lights above the doors flickered on. Martin only realized he inched closer to Jon when his face with big eyes was suddenly much closer. They looked at each other, still holding hands and Martin could not look away. Even with light like this he could see the dark shadows like bruises under his eyes. 

“Guys?” Tim called and Martin immediately pulled back. He could see Jon still looking at him before he also looked away. Tim didn’t disable the flashlight of his phone when he walked in, “So, it’s not just the cable box, seems to be a bigger power outage” 

“The water is still hot, so at least there’s that” Tim grinned, and it was both not understandable at all and comforting to see that and hear him say, “Great, then I’ll make food” 

  
  
  


It was more than clear that Jon was exhausted when Tim and Martin finally brought all blankets, towels and whatever could pass as one to the break room later. They discovered that without their weak heating system, it got cold quickly. Jon was wrapped up in his own and Martin’s coats, with Tim’s scarf around his neck and a cup of cold tea in his hands. It took more than a few words from both of them to keep him from helping (and then apologizing for how he could not help) until he stayed on the sofa. Martin tried his best but it was still a tiny little small bit adorable, in his opinion. Of course he didn’t think a sick Jon was adorable, but wrapped up in half their clothes - that Jon was. A little. A small tiny little bit. 

“You…” Jon sniffed and then shivered violently, “You’re ve-very war-wa-warm” Martin pulled him closer and wrapped the two coats tighter around him.    
  
“And you are very feverish” He was half on his lap and Martin bit his lip to not apologize for that. Tim decided on a very strict no-apologies-rule since Jon couldn’t stop, and Martin tried his best to stick to it. 

“I’m-” he stopped and even if it was impossible, curled more into himself, “I’m sorry” Martin sighed and tried to get even closer in an attempt to help. It wasn’t just the cold, but that made it worse. Jon was  _ hot _ . He felt it through layers of clothes and coats, his forehead was positively burning where he leaned it against Martin’s shoulder.

“None of that now, come on” Martin tried to read his face in the dim light but he hid it too well. They had all available blanket-close-findings piled onto them, and while it kept them warm and Martin really appreciated it, it also made it impossible to move a lot - at least for him. 

“No, you stayed bec- because of me and-” He coughed into his sleeve and Martin heard Tim scoff.

“Yeah, it was already too bad outside then. We couldn’t have left if we wanted to. What if we got stuck somewhere? I’d rather be here, it’s cold but we’re not  _ drowning _ at least” He wasn’t wrong, ten minutes couldn’t have made that much of a difference.

“Now I get you sick”

“Oh, you know, that means we can all stay home for a week - where it’s warm and all. Doesn’t sound too bad” Martin smiled a little. Leave it to Tim to find the silver lining. 

  
“It’s alright, Jon. And I wouldn’t like knowing you’re alone here” He squeezed his shoulders a little.

“Yeah, at this point, Martin would have made it through the storm just to get to you, right?” Martin was glad nobody could see his blush. 

“Ple-please no, I- I am not- not worth that-” He didn’t get to finish the sentence because another fit of violent shivers overtook him and for Martin, he didn’t need to say more anyway.

“Come on, we all know you should be nicer to Martin, yes, but you’re not that bad” Tim put his own head on Martin’s shoulder. Now all three of them were wrapped around each other well enough to make any movement impossible.

“You’re pretty okay” Martin tried to keep his voice level and from cracking, but only to a little avail. 

“I am no-not. I do- don’t know what I- I’m doing s-so...” Martin thinks about how he himself does so even less, about how he lied to get here and it makes him shiver too. With Jon trembling, at least nobody can really notice that. If Jon thinks himself unqualified - what was Martin then? A complete idiot? Problem?

“You’re fine” Tim sighed and he felt him shake his head, “it’s not your fault the place is a mess, okay?”    
  
“We’re all pretty much trying” Martin decided to add, “It could be worse?”    
  
“Imagine if we didn’t have Martin!” Martin freezes when Tim says it. He hears the grin in his voice, and while he knows he only gently makes fun of him, while he knows he doesn’t mean anything bad, he can’t help the feeling of his heart stopping for a beat and bracing himself for the pain his next words will inflict.    
It doesn’t come, however.    
“I bet we’re ten times more productive alone because of his tea” His ears start to burn. Tim does these things, sometimes he makes fun, and then he makes compliments like this, in situations in which Martin is not prepared for it. This time is no different - how is he supposed to react? He can’t! It can’t be true, and still it is… it is nice of him to say it.    
  


“We’d- we’d have- have problems, ye-yes” Jon chuckles roughly, “Tim’s right, you-” he stops and takes a wheezing breath, before he starts to cough again. It shakes his whole body, as if he might shake himself apart by it, he just coughs and coughs, hard and scratching, painful. He leans forward and Martin can’t do anything else than hold him and rub his back until it’s over, until he is wheezing instead of coughing again and he falls back against his chest, eyes screwed close and panting with the effort. 

“You are delirious” Martin mumbles and frees one of his hands to check Jon’s forehead again, trying to decide if he feels warmer than before.    
“The paracetamol didn’t do a lot, can we give him more?” He sees Tim check his phone but not the time, and then he extracts himself from their pile of cloth. 

“We should” He hands over a mug of water and two more pills, it’s cold, which is not ideal, but maybe it helps at least a little. Martin helps Jon with drinking, since his fingers tremble so much he fears he will spill it over himself. When he is finished, Jon pulls Martin’s hand on his forehead again.

“Head” he mumbles and both Martin and Tim hear it. It’s a sign of how bad he must feel to admit it, even more so that he willingly seeks out the touch when minutes ago, Martin felt bad for just pulling him close for warmth. He could hear Tim meddling at the sink and he returned with a wet rag. Martin didn’t ask where he got it from, and Jon sighed, high pitched, and relaxed a little when it touched his forehead and temples. 

They only talked again much later, when Jon uneasily dozed off, still shivering and mumbling in his sleep. Neither of them were able to sleep or even nod off too. They were huddled together closely still, and so Martin knew exactly that Tim was also still awake. 

“He’s getting worse” Tim hummed in response and rubbed his forehead. 

“I know. But we still can’t go out, I checked the weather and it’s still pretty bad” 

“What time is it even?” He couldn’t reach his phone but forgot to ask before. Not like he would really check anything, and even worse, the light maybe woke Jon. Not a chance there.

“About one in the morning” Tim informed him, “I don’t know how it got so bad so quickly, though. I mean, he was… Fine this morning, right?”    
  
“He said he got wet this morning and didn’t really eat anything the whole day - I mean, then he had instant ramen. That’s not really… You know, helpful” Tim nodded again. 

“Yeah, sure. He just never bloody learns” 

  
“I… I don’t really know what to do”    
  
“Me neither, Martin.” He sighed again and put a hand on Jon’s arm, who just mumbled something unintelligible and shivered again, “Me neither” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 29 - I think I need a doctor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank all of you so much <3

At four in the morning, Martin and Tim still awake, an electric buzzing filled the room. Like a very loud bee it brought them back to full alert, and then the light flickered like a bad disco-trick, before it went back on. 

“Do you think it’s a little better outside?” Martin whisper-asked and looked at Jon, who didn’t even stir. He fully fell asleep two hours ago, breath wheezing and hitching, shivering in unsteady intervals. He half woke up an hour or so ago, talking about spiders and books and only calmed down when Martin explained to him, multiple times, that there were no spiders in the room or even close, and that he wasn’t alone. Though he dared to doubt that he would remember it when he woke up late. 

“According to my weather report, it seems like that’s the case. I mean, still bad, but…” he shrugged and carefully left the blanket pile to stretch. Martin took the newfound freedom to stretch his neck and legs, not easy while sitting down, but already really good considering he didn’t move for hours. Again, Jon didn’t stir, not even with the movement around him now, which was curious - Martin didn’t deem him a really deep sleeper up until now. Which was… 

“Jon?” He gently nudged his arm, “Jon, wake up?” No reaction, “Jon” he squeezed his shoulder a little harder - still no reaction, “Tim, he isn’t waking up” Tim’s face was tight when he walked over and shook him himself, 

“Jon, come on, you’re scaring us” He said it much louder, nobody could sleep through this. Still Jon didn’t even twitch. 

“He’s really warm, I mean, really  _ really _ warm” 

  
“Okay, that’s it. I don’t care what the weather says, we’re getting him to a doctor  _ right bloody now _ ” 

  
  


Martin didn’t bother in getting his own coat back, he wasn’t really cold and only had to walk through outside for less than a minute to where Tim waited with the car. The sky, though dark, was a terrifying chaos of clouds and the occasional sliver of pale moonlight coming through with how fast they moved, the streets and sidewalk wet and puddles the size of ponds everywhere the concrete wasn’t even. Rain whipped against the windshield and stopped as suddenly as it had started on their way. Traffic lights were blinking, some lost all power, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, they only passed two or three cars. Frankly, it was scary. Which made the whole situation as one terrifying.    
The whole ride, Jon stayed unconscious. Martin was sitting in the backseat with him, holding him by the shoulders and then just holding him in general. Even with the city feeling like it was from a horror-story, his mind was racing. He thought back on how he had thought it looked a little adorable with Jon under the coats. How he had, while feverish, still reacted to Tim’s jokes. It all seemed so wrong now. He felt like he should have known something was wrong then - like he should have acted then already, but didn’t, when logic dictated him that there was nothing he could have done then. Only when they pulled up at the hospital Jon sluggishly blinked.    
  
“It’s alright, we’re getting help” 

“‘se hurt?” he slurred, struggling to keep his eyes open. Martin wanted to scream. Who was hurt? Thankfully, Tim seemed to have the same thought. 

“You are sick, Jon. Stay with us here, alright?” Jon hummed and leaned back against Martin’s shoulder, and was asleep again. 

  
  
  


“For… Jonathan Sims?” The nurse looked only at Martin and Tim. The ER wasn’t empty, but considering Tim was wearing tight gym-pants and a half-dried coat, Martin had no coat at all but couldn’t stop fidgeting with Jon’s glasses, it seemed obvious. Still they both stood up fairly quickly and strode forwards, saying 

_ “Here” _ and  _ “Yes” _ at the same time. If she looked puzzled, Martin didn’t care. He forgot his phone and while there was a clock in the waiting area, he didn’t dare to look at it. Tim managed a shaky smile that couldn’t hide how worried he was when they followed the nurse along a corridor and up the stairs and down a different corridor. She stopped in front of a door. 

“We’re a little short staffed right now, so if you want to talk to the doctor who treated Mr. Sims, it will take a while. I can answer your questions, however” 

“How is he doing?” The nurse sighed and smiled when it broke out of Martin before he could really control it. It was probably a stupid question, but he needed to know and no matter what, her answer wasn’t fast enough just yet. 

“He was severely dehydrated when he arrived, he’s getting fluids and fever medication for now. We’re keeping an eye on his lungs, too. Apart from that, he is asleep for now. We’re waiting for the test results and how he’ll be later today, to decide if we keep him overnight or not” She rattled it down like a practiced memento.    
“He’ll be alright with rest and fluids. I got from the form that you were trapped in your workplace overnight?” 

“Yes, we wanted to leave and then found Jon sick, then the power went out-” His chest felt tight when he said it out loud. They should have left earlier. Martin should have seen it because that’s what he always did, what he prided himself to do - he figured out how people worked. He figured out how Jon liked his tea and how Tim did and how Sasha did. And he figured out 

“Martin” Tim put a hand on his arm, “Take a breath, okay?” He only now realized that he stopped and nodded, releasing the air trapped in his chest slowly. Tim left his hand where it was and he was thankful for it - like Jon in the dark, the contact grounded him for the moment. And the moment was what he needed to take another breath. Hospital. They were in a hospital, they were here because of Jon. Because Jon was going to be okay.

“Do either of you require medical attention?” Tim shook his head, 

“No, just maybe some fluids too, but we’ll do that. Can we see him?” She raised her eyebrows, and Martin thought she was going to say no, or judge, or tell them about visiting hours, or all three or-

“Of course. I’ll make sure you’ll get something warm to drink too, most of us got stuck here overnight too - it’s no bother. Just let him rest and try to get some yourself as soon as possible” Martin nodded on auto-response and let Tim pull him into the room. 

  
  


It wasn’t that Jon was usually tall. Because no, he wasn’t, he was not even average height. He was small and grumpy and that was that. Right now, he looked not only small - he looked frail. Back in the Archives, holding him tight through violent and shivers and coughing fits, Martin hadn’t seen it like this. But here, laying in a hospital bed he looked impossibly frail. As if one of the needles in his arm just needed to stab a little deeper and come out on the other side. If the blanket was enough to press him down. While it wasn’t, it couldn’t be the case - he was still the same person he had been this, no, last morning. Last night. He hadn’t suddenly changed. 

“Is it just me or does he somehow look a few inches shorter?” Tim was leaning on the bed rail on the foot of it, both hands supported on it, looking Jon over, “Like, last time I was here alone with him, now you can tell me if I go mad” 

“He looks… shorter. And like he’ll just break when someone touches him” His own voice was barely above a whisper. 

“You heard the nurse, he’ll be alright. We did the best we could - I’m just glad you stayed” Martin shook his head. Maybe that was the start, but not even close to enough.

“I feel like I should have noticed something sooner” 

“So do I, but we’re not his caretakers or something. He’s stupid - that shouldn’t be our concern” And yet it was, Martin thought, knowing fully well Tim meant the same.

“And here we are, who would have thought that” Tim chuckled and leaned forwards to take Jon’s fine hand in his for a moment.    
“I’m glad you were there, you know. I… I wouldn’t have known… What to do” He admitted quietly after a short silence.

“Naah, I was the lucky one. I’m not at caring for people - I mean, I would have dragged him here in every case, but you’re the caring one” He smiled and reached out with his free hand to squeeze Martin’s shoulder, “We’re lucky to have you, Blackwood” He smiled and it was the softest smile he had ever seen on his face. Like this, it was almost like a circle - Tim in the middle, holding on to both Martin and Jon. Both of them. Including Martin like this and… And Martin couldn’t answer. He tried to think of a word, any word, any  _ words  _ to describe it, but couldn’t.  _ Thank you.  _ or _ This means so much. _ All of it seemed too empty, too small. Like not enough. Has anyone  _ ever _ told him that? That they were lucky to have him? That he was more than a burden? He wasn’t sure.    
He was spared from finding an answer when Jon sighed and quietly coughed. His hand twitched and he turned his head around in their direction, before he blinked. Slowly, reluctantly because of the light, most likely. 

“Hello there, sleeping beauty” Tim greeted him and while he didn’t let go of Jon’s hand, his grip on Martin’s shoulder fell away. He missed it instantly, before he instead gripped his hand.    
“Ready to give us another heart attack?” 

“Hm?” Jon tried to push himself up and both Martin and Tim were quick to hold him down. Not like he would have come far, but Martin suspected that they didn’t even want to think of the chance. “What…” He squinted at them and then relaxed back, “Where?” It was only a whisper without any voice, and letting go of both Martin and Jon, Tim got him some water. Without a second thought, Martin took Tim’s place and his hand.

“Hospital. We took you here when we couldn’t wake you up. How are you feeling?”

“Hmhmmm” He closed his eyes again, “just tired” he slurred then and Tim grinned, 

“Yeah, you didn’t sleep enough tonight. We know that for a fact” 

“Time? Have to…” He swallowed thickly and opened his eyes again, “have to… Archives?” He didn’t seem to notice how he lost half of the sentence in between.

“Just rest for now, okay? We’ll talk about work when you’re better” 

“I… Elias, has-” he stopped to cough into his pillow. With all the light Martin cringed at how it shook his whole body, seeing it was almost worse than feeling it at night. He helped him roll to his side and rubbed his back, sitting on the bed behind him that way without even registering it. Did it sound worse than last night? Certainly not better, no way, but… It certainly looked worse, now that he could see. The thin blue stripes on the hospital blanket didn’t really do anything, it was just bright and sterile and while that was good, he felt a lot colder than down in the Archives last night. 

“Easy, slow. In and out, okay? Easy” Jon kept his eyes closed after it calmed down and took some shaky, testing breaths. He shuddered again.    
“Are you still cold?” Martin nodded over to where his and Jon’s coats were draped over a chair, feeling his ears heat up when Tim passed Martin’s own over. 

“You’re not back to work until you’re cleared” Tim sat back down in his chair and Martin saw him reach out for his hand again. Jon didn’t answer at first, only squinted at them. Martin put his glasses on the nightstand behind him. He thought about placing them on his nose so he could see better, but that would probably be counterproductive since their actual goal was to have him asleep. 

“We’re serious, you shouldn’t be down there. It’s cold, the heating system doesn’t work half the time - that’ll only make it worse, hell, that’s probably what made it this bad in the first place” Martin added, still rubbing his back. Even with a blanket and coat, he seemed to be cold. Even if it was the fever, he didn’t say anything. Even if he knew fully well that Jon would probably murder him if he did that with him being in his right mind - or maybe not, not anymore, after last night.

“Listen to Martin. And apart from that, I  _ will _ handcuff you to that bed if you try to get out of it before you’re allowed to” 

“Fine, fine…” He cleared his throat, a horrible and painful sound, “I’m just… ‘st sorry” 

“Jon, you’re still having Martin’s coat over your shoulders. I am in my gym clothes, at six in the morning, in a hospital, without even being drunk. We just spent a night in the Archives, eating instant ramen and cuddling in the break room, don’t be sorry for the best bloody story I can now tell at parties” 

“Please don’t” 

“Oh come on, Elias should know that! He’d explode!” Given Jon’s horrified look, he didn’t catch the joke until Tim told him so. 

“But actually, we need to tell Sasha. Since she missed it, you know?” 

“Ooooh, she’ll be angry. My phone died, though” 

“Mine’s in the Archives” Maybe he should call his mum, he thought - but then again, maybe not. He couldn’t think of a good reason why she would have been worried. 

“Here we go…” Martin looked over to where Jon fell back asleep, “Do you have any pressing matters today?” Martin shook his head and carefully draped blanket and coat over Jon so that he could climb off the bed to sit beside Tim again.

“Work, but…” Tim nodded, 

“I mean, I’ll still tell Elias that we were trapped down there. I doubt he would care a lot, if Jon is not in, I mean. That should be enough for a day. Just wanted to know if you need to leave soon or something” He didn’t need to. He didn’t want to, but maybe he should? Because he stayed here the whole time, and now still… He couldn’t understand what that was between Tim and Jon, right? They were friends, and Martin was… Nothing, really. Not their friend. Their coworker, yes, but… Did that account for something? What if he massively overstayed his small welcome already-

“I mean, I can if you want me to-” He started, tingling anxiety rising on his back, but Tim shook his head again and reached out to take Martin’s arm again.

  
“Naah, that’s not it. I’m not leaving until they tell me something to work with,” Only now Martin realized he was still holding onto Jon’s hand, “and I got a small feeling you wouldn’t let it go either. Like I said, I was just glad you were there, you know?” Martin didn’t know how to answer - the ‘okay’ on his tongue was probably not the best, but what else could he come up with?    
  
“Thanks” Tim squeezed his arm and said nothing else. 

**Author's Note:**

> This also got a lot longer than expected, oooof. Seems like I live in the Archives now


End file.
